What is the story
Ask.com, the search engine and Q&A service previously often known as Ask Jeeves, has formally shut down.
The corporate introduced its closure with a message on its homepage. “As IAC continues to sharpen its focus,” it learn, “now we have made the choice to discontinue our search enterprise, which incorporates Ask.com.”
The platform was launched in 1997 by Garrett Gruener and David Warthen, simply earlier than Google began gaining recognition.
Ask Jeeves was a pioneer in conversational search
Not like different serps of its time, Ask Jeeves inspired customers to sort full questions in pure language, making it really feel extra conversational.
The platform rapidly gained recognition for its distinctive id and easy-to-use type.
Its well-known butler mascot, Jeeves, impressed by the P.G. Wodehouse character, helped the model stand out in the course of the dot-com growth.
The mascot even appeared within the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade!
The decline of Ask.com and rebranding
As Google grew to become the dominant drive in search, Ask Jeeves struggled to maintain up.
In 2005, holding firm IAC acquired the enterprise and shortly after dropped “Jeeves” from the identify.
The platform was rebranded as Ask.com with a brand new brand as a part of an effort to modernize its picture.
By 2010, it had already scaled again its core search ambitions and shifted focus towards a question-and-answer format.
Nostalgia and farewell
Regardless of its efforts, Ask.com by no means regained the affect it as soon as had within the search market.
The platform was even named the official search engine of NASCAR in 2009.
Nevertheless, for many customers, it remained a nostalgic reminder of the early web moderately than a severe competitor.
The corporate thanked its workers and customers who supported it by means of altering occasions in its farewell message on the web site.